I'm thankful for my family, and the fact that my parents are still alive and together.
I'm thankful for my friends, who have gotten me through some tough and some tremendous times.
I'm thankful for my cheeky chinchilla, Meguilla, and my terrific tortie cat, Preeti, and the love, however furry, they give me.
I'm thankful for my health. It's all too easy to take one's health for granted, but more and more I note how lucky I've been to avoid major medical issues. Thus far.
I'm thankful for the comfortably-sized roof over my head, and the job that both allows me to afford it (and food, and heat) and provides me with challenges and opportunities.
I'm thankful for the opportunity to teach, and to learn from, my fellow humans.
I'm thankful for my artistic abilities and the outlet they provide me to vent some emotional steam, and for people who read my writing and listen to my music, like "Christmas Lonely" (OK, one little shameless plug... ;)
I'm not exactly happy these days, though I try to find a little happy here and there when I can. I'm thankful for what I have had, and for what I have now. I know that I could (and did) have more... but I also know that I could have so much less.
Happy Thanksgiving... and even if you're not an American, take a moment to appreciate what you've got. As the song says, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Saturday, December 1, 2012
NaNoWriMo Failure
(...and yes, that's "failure" and not "fail." I know it's trendy to use and misuse mono- and di-syllabic words these days, but I do my best to avoid that sort of thing without fail. Snarky man is snarky. Because snark.) I'd fully intended to write a 50,000-word novel (at least) last month, but... things happened, and on the morning I'd intended to begin penning "They Might Be Roses," I found myself driving across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky instead.
As you may have heard, a bit of wind and rain called Hurricane Sandy (or "Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy" or "Superstorm Sandy") came ashore in the Garden State at the end of October, and while Laura and I only had to deal with a few hours without electricity and a day and a half without cable/Internet, the storm did end up causing our flight to Kentucky on November 1st to be cancelled. As we'd both already requested some time off for the trip, rescheduling wasn't a realistic option, and so I decided to rent a car and drive us 700 miles each way, and we left on Halloween evening instead of early Thursday afternoon.
We ended up getting there earlier than we were originally scheduled to depart from Newark Airport, but of course I was exhausted from driving all night, and I wasn't able to start writing while at the airport and on the plane like I'd planned. I never did any writing while we were in Kentucky, either, but we had a wonderful time with Laura's dad and his wife, and Laura's sister Amanda and her kids.
I thought that maybe I'd finally get going on Monday after a good night's sleep back in my own bed in Jersey... only we found ourselves going to the Bergen County Humane Society in town that day instead, and I was selected by a young tortoiseshell cat to bring her home. Three-month old "Fluff" was quickly renamed Preeti, and even more quickly became a part of our family (though her older sister Meggy, the chinchilla, doesn't like her much at all and has made it clear that she's not going to be intimidated).
It's Caturday!
Tuesday saw me going back to work... but because New Jersey Transit was still reeling from Sandy's damage, the Main Line train was still not operational, and I opted to work from home. On Wednesday, I felt out the buses, and while the commute was longer, it was doable. Unfortunately, I don't usually have the ability to take out my laptop and use it on the bus the way I do on the train... and anyway, I was stunned by a phone call from my mom telling me that there'd been a fire and she and my dad were at a neighbor's home because they weren't allowed back into theirs.
I was shaken, understandably I hope, as was my sister when I called her (to give her the news after wishing her a happy birthday). She and I met my parents at the house on Saturday and surveyed the damage, then mom and dad came home with me and spent the night with Laura, Meggy, Preeti, and me. At least they finally got a chance to sample my Big Easy shrimp (it went over well), and they would've stayed another night, but the insurance finally located a hotel for them.
I didn't get any writing done that weekend, either, although I'd been thinking that I could've gotten a few hours in (before the fire happened). I did finally get over a thousand words written the following weekend, but the damage was already done, in my head at least. Work was keeping me busy and stressed, I started reading Stephen King's "11/22/63" (great book, but bad idea for me to get invested in someone else's novel, and a big one at that), and then came Thanksgiving. We visited my parents at my sister's house before heading to Laura's aunt's for the big turkey dinner.
Then came Laura's birthday, and the requisite sushi/sashimi dinner at Momoya in Bloomfield...
Sushi and sashimi
Before I knew it, the month was over. Yes, I could have managed it, but it just would've been too hard with the lengthy delay in starting, and while I wanted to make it happen, there was too much going on in November already. I still want to write the novel, though, and I will, but December is another crazy month, so although I'll hopefully get some writing done before the end of the year, I don't expect to finish "They Might Be Roses" before February or so at the earliest. I intend to finish writing and recording the eponymous song as well. There's that Web site overhaul to complete, too; I'd really like to get that done before 2013. I think the resolution for the New Year is going to be better time management. There's a lot I want to do: I haven't picked up a guitar in forever, I may start writing short stories again, Laura's teaching me to knit... but I have to set aside time for such things and actually use it.
Lastly, the holiday season is rapidly approaching, and while its lyrics certainly don't represent the way I feel anymore, my song "Christmas Lonely" is still a pretty good tune, or so I've been led to believe. I'd appreciate it if you gave it a listen and maybe invited your friends to do the same. Hey, ask your local college radio station to play it. ;-)
As you may have heard, a bit of wind and rain called Hurricane Sandy (or "Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy" or "Superstorm Sandy") came ashore in the Garden State at the end of October, and while Laura and I only had to deal with a few hours without electricity and a day and a half without cable/Internet, the storm did end up causing our flight to Kentucky on November 1st to be cancelled. As we'd both already requested some time off for the trip, rescheduling wasn't a realistic option, and so I decided to rent a car and drive us 700 miles each way, and we left on Halloween evening instead of early Thursday afternoon.
We ended up getting there earlier than we were originally scheduled to depart from Newark Airport, but of course I was exhausted from driving all night, and I wasn't able to start writing while at the airport and on the plane like I'd planned. I never did any writing while we were in Kentucky, either, but we had a wonderful time with Laura's dad and his wife, and Laura's sister Amanda and her kids.
Amanda, Sofiah, and Silas
I thought that maybe I'd finally get going on Monday after a good night's sleep back in my own bed in Jersey... only we found ourselves going to the Bergen County Humane Society in town that day instead, and I was selected by a young tortoiseshell cat to bring her home. Three-month old "Fluff" was quickly renamed Preeti, and even more quickly became a part of our family (though her older sister Meggy, the chinchilla, doesn't like her much at all and has made it clear that she's not going to be intimidated).
Tuesday saw me going back to work... but because New Jersey Transit was still reeling from Sandy's damage, the Main Line train was still not operational, and I opted to work from home. On Wednesday, I felt out the buses, and while the commute was longer, it was doable. Unfortunately, I don't usually have the ability to take out my laptop and use it on the bus the way I do on the train... and anyway, I was stunned by a phone call from my mom telling me that there'd been a fire and she and my dad were at a neighbor's home because they weren't allowed back into theirs.
I was shaken, understandably I hope, as was my sister when I called her (to give her the news after wishing her a happy birthday). She and I met my parents at the house on Saturday and surveyed the damage, then mom and dad came home with me and spent the night with Laura, Meggy, Preeti, and me. At least they finally got a chance to sample my Big Easy shrimp (it went over well), and they would've stayed another night, but the insurance finally located a hotel for them.
I didn't get any writing done that weekend, either, although I'd been thinking that I could've gotten a few hours in (before the fire happened). I did finally get over a thousand words written the following weekend, but the damage was already done, in my head at least. Work was keeping me busy and stressed, I started reading Stephen King's "11/22/63" (great book, but bad idea for me to get invested in someone else's novel, and a big one at that), and then came Thanksgiving. We visited my parents at my sister's house before heading to Laura's aunt's for the big turkey dinner.
My parents, sister, nephews, 'n me
We stayed away from the stores on Black Friday (well, other than the local Dollar Tree), and I suppose I could've done some writing that day, but instead we went to the park and fed the squirrels for a while.
Thanks for the nut!
Then came Laura's birthday, and the requisite sushi/sashimi dinner at Momoya in Bloomfield...
Before I knew it, the month was over. Yes, I could have managed it, but it just would've been too hard with the lengthy delay in starting, and while I wanted to make it happen, there was too much going on in November already. I still want to write the novel, though, and I will, but December is another crazy month, so although I'll hopefully get some writing done before the end of the year, I don't expect to finish "They Might Be Roses" before February or so at the earliest. I intend to finish writing and recording the eponymous song as well. There's that Web site overhaul to complete, too; I'd really like to get that done before 2013. I think the resolution for the New Year is going to be better time management. There's a lot I want to do: I haven't picked up a guitar in forever, I may start writing short stories again, Laura's teaching me to knit... but I have to set aside time for such things and actually use it.
Lastly, the holiday season is rapidly approaching, and while its lyrics certainly don't represent the way I feel anymore, my song "Christmas Lonely" is still a pretty good tune, or so I've been led to believe. I'd appreciate it if you gave it a listen and maybe invited your friends to do the same. Hey, ask your local college radio station to play it. ;-)
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Episode VII: A New Beginning
November has been a busy month. Laura moved in with me, and the two of us are still adjusting to life together, and cooking together, and all the little and big things that change when one lives with someone else. So far, however, so good. Very good, even, and I'm not anticipating any major changes to that wholesome goodness. Well, OK, "wholesome" is relative...
The day after moving in with me, Laura got to meet my parents and my sister and her family (including my two nephews) for the first time at my sister's birthday party. My love was a bit nervous about it, but all turned out well, as I'd expected, and everyone had a nice time there.
A week after she moved in, I had to leave Laura home alone for several hours while I went to an Ani DiFranco concert with Jenn, Rhonda, and Amanda. It was a great show, and I'm looking forward to Ani's new album next year, but it felt good to get back home after the show.
A few days after that was Thanksgiving, and Laura and I went to my parents' house for dinner and had a great, overstuffed meal, to which we brought mashed white sweet potatoes, apple pie, and wine. Laura got to meet one additional family member, Degas the degu, and was quite pleased to meet him. It was also Laura's birthday, and mom and dad had a cake and presents for her. The next day, we were taken out for dinner by Laura's mom and had another nice time.
On Saturday, it was my turn to meet some furry faces, as we went to central Pennsylvania to pick up the rest of Laura's stuff and to bring home Priscilla and Meguilla, our "chinchildren." (I managed to bang up both of my calves during a chase scene involving a botched leap into the back of the U-Haul van after we'd gotten home, but otherwise everyone made the trip just fine.) Yes, Laura and I have a family of chinchillas now, and the girls are so cute that I had to share: ChinchillaCam is at http://www.andersensilva.com/chincam.php if you're interested!
A busy month, but a good'un. Let's see what December has in store... <#
The day after moving in with me, Laura got to meet my parents and my sister and her family (including my two nephews) for the first time at my sister's birthday party. My love was a bit nervous about it, but all turned out well, as I'd expected, and everyone had a nice time there.
A week after she moved in, I had to leave Laura home alone for several hours while I went to an Ani DiFranco concert with Jenn, Rhonda, and Amanda. It was a great show, and I'm looking forward to Ani's new album next year, but it felt good to get back home after the show.
A few days after that was Thanksgiving, and Laura and I went to my parents' house for dinner and had a great, overstuffed meal, to which we brought mashed white sweet potatoes, apple pie, and wine. Laura got to meet one additional family member, Degas the degu, and was quite pleased to meet him. It was also Laura's birthday, and mom and dad had a cake and presents for her. The next day, we were taken out for dinner by Laura's mom and had another nice time.
On Saturday, it was my turn to meet some furry faces, as we went to central Pennsylvania to pick up the rest of Laura's stuff and to bring home Priscilla and Meguilla, our "chinchildren." (I managed to bang up both of my calves during a chase scene involving a botched leap into the back of the U-Haul van after we'd gotten home, but otherwise everyone made the trip just fine.) Yes, Laura and I have a family of chinchillas now, and the girls are so cute that I had to share: ChinchillaCam is at http://www.andersensilva.com/chincam.php if you're interested!
Prissy is the bolder of the two
A busy month, but a good'un. Let's see what December has in store... <#
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